How have construction standards and efficiency changed since the mid-90s?

[texasdiver]

My wife and I are contemplating relocating from Waco to the greater Houston area next year. This past weekend we were visiting friends who live in Cinco Ranch and so spent some time driving around there and killed Sunday morning walking through every one of the massive cluster of model homes that all the builders have out at Cinco.

Personally I think my wife and I would prefer to buy an existing home in an older neighborhood with mature trees and landscaping. I'm just not willing to wait 10 years before I get shade and mature trees. Now of course the salesmen at the model home sites are very good at slinging all sorts of BS about how the homes they are building now are so much more energy efficient and built to all sorts of higher standards than those in the 90s in terms of insulation, appliances, etc. The oldest neighborhoods in Cinco are from the early 90s so we weren't talking any earlier than that.

And it got me wondering how much of it was truth and how much was BS. I worked sporadically in the construction trades through college and am somewhat in tune with modern construction methods. And there really isn't much that is being done today that wasn't at least KNOWN about a decade ago. But I have no idea what builders back then were actually doing. But we certainly had the technology to make beautiful energy efficient houses.

Of course if I had my druthers, my preference would be something like a prewar Craftman-style in an elegant old neighborhood. But with 3 young girls and my wife who is looking into physician positions mostly in the suburbs, I don't see that happening. If we do move to the Houston area it will most likely be so my wife can join a family practice group near one of the new hospital complexes in the burbs like Katy, Sugarland, Cypress, Woodlands, etc. And then she'll want to live nearby.

I know architectural styles have changed over the past decade. A lot of the homes from the early 90s have more traditional floor plans that are less open and soaring. But how do they really compare in terms of energy efficiency and things like hurricane-resistance? Has building really improved in that short amount of time? Or am I being sold a load of BS from salesmen. I would hate to end up with a white elephant that requires endless upgrades and retrofits to turn into something close to the current standards in terms of energy efficiency.

Any opinions about this?

[BryanS]

I know architectural styles have changed over the past decade. A lot of the homes from the early 90s have more traditional floor plans that are less open and soaring. But how do they really compare in terms of energy efficiency and things like hurricane-resistance? Has building really improved in that short amount of time? Or am I being sold a load of BS from salesmen. I would hate to end up with a white elephant that requires endless upgrades and retrofits to turn into something close to the current standards in terms of energy efficiency.

Here's what I have been able to glean over the past years...

1920 - 1940's - Bungalow/Frame house era. Rough cut lumber. Block and beam, continuous poured beam foundations. Small/no closets. 2-1, 3-1. Single baths.

1950's - Sheetrock invented. 8 foot ceilings are the norm. Bathrooms were lathe and plaster, could withstand a nuclear blast. Single pane aluminum windows. Cast iron drains, galvanized supply lines. Slab foundations. Air conditioning starts to make it into homes... but there is no insulation in the walls. Whole house is on two circuits. Copper wiring. 3-1-1.

1960's - Air conditioning takes off. Still no insulation in the walls. Still using cast iron drains, galvanized. From 1968 to about 1970 - aluminum wiring. Complete with cedar shank shingles. Fire harzard. Going back to copper. Single pane windows. Not much improvement in slab on grade technology. Second bathrooms.

1970's - Mid 1970's, start insulating exterior walls. Start using PVC for drains. No more cast iron. Galvanized or copper. Cellulose insulation. Starting to see post tension slabs. Single pane windows. 3-2-2 popular. Interior atriums.

1980 to 1985 - Last years to build out 1970's floor plans with 1970's Detriot-style "quality." Early 80's Poltergeist type houses. Weird obtuse angles.

1985 to Present - "Open floor plans," high ceilings everywhere start becoming the norm. Construction quality, in general, is much better than before: R-30 and R-38 in attics, copper plumbing, PVC drains, copper wiring, slabs are better/thicker w/ post tension, etc. Still single pane windows on a lot of homes.

1990's to Present - start seeing double pane windows... Stay away from PVC supply plumbing. Stick with copper.

Bottom line: Any house you buy built in the 1990's to present is "new." Don't worry. It's the stuff before ~1985 that can bite you. Of course, any house of any era could be a disaster, get an inspection.

[musicman]

Construction quality, in general, is much better than before: R-30 and R-38 in attics, copper plumbing, PVC drains, copper wiring, slabs are better/thicker w/ post tension, etc. Still single pane windows on a lot of homes.

1990's to Present - start seeing double pane windows... Stay away from PVC supply plumbing. Stick with copper.

Bottom line: Any house you buy built in the 1990's to present is "new." Don't worry. It's the stuff before ~1985 that can bite you. Of course, any house of any era could be a disaster, get an inspection.

not sure I can agree with your construction quality synopsis. stuff after 85 can bite you. it's all about the craftsperson being knowledgeable. having insulated walls are great but when the poorly constructed stucco leaks, ruining the insulation, that's not good.

[BryanS]

not sure I can agree with your construction quality synopsis. stuff after 85 can bite you. it's all about the craftsperson being knowledgeable. having insulated walls are great but when the poorly constructed stucco leaks, ruining the insulation, that's not good.

I am talking single family, brick/non-stucco construction... the innards of ~1985 to the present (plumbing, wiring, insulation, foundations, etc.) are better than the two or three decades before...

[thect]

I am talking single family, brick/non-stucco construction... the innards of ~1985 to the present (plumbing, wiring, insulation, foundations, etc.) are better than the two or three decades before...

I don't know. Personally I like the quality of construction in old houses more. They seemed to have higher standard back then. While new houses have more regulations some builders still are able to put together a low quality product. I mean the old houses have issues because they are old. But all in all I didnt have more problems with my 1950 house than I had with my 1990 house.

[20thStDad]

Crappy houses are built nowadays, crappy houses were built back then. There is not a huge difference in available quality now vs. then. It just so happens that the only houses still around from a long time ago are the ones that weren't built like crap - imagine that. It's an off comparison when people say the older ones were built better. You don't have the older crappy ones around to compare to, I promise you they were there. There will most definitely be lots of houses built recently that are around for a long time, and a lot that don't last long.

Edited October 3, 2009 by 20thStDad

[BryanS]

I don't know. Personally I like the quality of construction in old houses more. They seemed to have higher standard back then. While new houses have more regulations some builders still are able to put together a low quality product. I mean the old houses have issues because they are old. But all in all I didnt have more problems with my 1950 house than I had with my 1990 house.

The galvanized plumbing in your 1950 house is at its end of life. Not to mention cast iron drainage. You probably also have no insulation in the walls either.

Your 1990 house... will still be in pretty good shape 10, 20 years from now. Your 1950 house... probably not (it will need some non-trivial repairs - to extend its life.)